Lavender is a wonderful herb that can be used for so many things. You can grow it in your own garden and harvest the buds right before their flower to make lavender essential oil, scent lingerie drawers, make lavender sachets and even use it in cooking.
You can get many of the supplies you need at either ACMoore, JoAnn Fabrics or Michael’s Crafts. You an also find pure essential oils at health food stores and some grocery stores and even on Amazon.com. Always look for the pure essential oils and not fragrance oils as they contain chemicals and are man-made.
We found that Lavendula Angustifolia was the best grade for dried lavender buds and also have the strongest scent of all of the lavender oils. You only need a small bottle of lavender essential oil because you don’t use much and it goes a long way.
Here are some lavender spa recipes that you can make at home. Package these in nice bottles and jars to give as gift too.
Lavender Body Powder
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of finely ground dried lavender buds
- 1 cup of Bentonite clay
- 1-1/2 cup of Cornstarch (kitchen grade is fine)
- Lavender Essential Oil
Directions:
Whisk the clay and the cornstarch together. Add ground lavender buds. Add 3-5 drops of Lavender essential oil. Allow to sit covered in the bowl and then transfer to shaker jar.
Simple Calming Lavender Bath Tea
Ingredients:
Directions:
Mix equal parts of dried lavender buds, dried rose petals, oats, chamomile flowers, and Epsom salts. Put the mixture in either a muslin or cheesecloth bag.
The next time you decide to have a relaxing hot bath, put the bath tea in the tub as it is filling with hot water. As you relax in the bath, your skin will be soaking in the nutrients from the natural herbs of the bath tea. The bath tea will provide your body with skin moisturizing benefits and general emotional renewal and stress relief. The lavender buds will bring calmness to the senses and is useful to relief stress, tension, and headaches. Chamomile flowers help relax tired, achy muscles while softening the skin (Chamomile is a common allergen to those with ragweed sensitivities). Oats help smooth and comfort itchy, scratchy, and dry skin while giving your skin a silky feel.
If you don’t want a mess to clean up, keep the mixture in a small muslin bag and put the bag in the bath, unopened.
Lavender Linen Water
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon (100 drops) Lavender essential oil
- 5-10 drops Peppermint, Spearmint or Rosemary Essential oil (optional)
- 2 oz. Perfumer’s Alcohol (or 200 Proof Vodka if you can’t find perfumer’s alcohol)
- 24 oz. Distilled water
Directions:
Pour all essential oils and alcohol into a bottle, cap and shake to mix. Mix with distilled water. Mix will cloud, and eventually separate. Shake well before each use.
Sweet Dream Lavender Spray
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Distilled water
- 1 teaspoon Witch Hazel
- 5 to 6 drops Lavender Essential Oil
- 2 to 3 Peppermint Oil (optional)
Directions:
Mix ingredients and pour into a clean spray bottle. Spray onto clean skin or fresh linens before going to sleep in the evening.
Don’t have time to create a recipe of don’t have the supplies? Buy yourself some pure Lavender Essential Oil and if you are having trouble unwinding or falling asleep at night add a few drops of lavender essential oil to a warm bath.
